en-US Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:15:02 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 1599277 183 Yakov Perelman 0828515123 Nandakishore 4 mathematics 4.33 1965
author: Yakov Perelman
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1965
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/04/24
shelves: mathematics
review:
Another terrific book by Yakov Perelman! These Russian authors really knew how to make learning fun.
]]> 6614983 255 martin-gardner 014021996X Nandakishore 4 non-fiction, mathematics The Scientific American, the brain-splitting logic puzzle of "The Paradox of the Unexpected Hanging", the philosophical aspects of "The Church of the Fourth Dimension" and "The Match-Box Game Learning Machine" are excellent. (I constructed the last one for my kid sis to present in a science exhibition.)]]> 4.12 1975
author: martin-gardner
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1975
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/04/02
shelves: non-fiction, mathematics
review:
Reading Martin Gardner is a pleasure for a math lover like me. In this collection of his essays from The Scientific American, the brain-splitting logic puzzle of "The Paradox of the Unexpected Hanging", the philosophical aspects of "The Church of the Fourth Dimension" and "The Match-Box Game Learning Machine" are excellent. (I constructed the last one for my kid sis to present in a science exhibition.)
]]> 6242813 Įdomioji algebra yra visų pirma ne mokymuisi vadovėlis, o knyga laisvam skaitymui. Reikia, kad skaitytojas, kuriam ji yra skirta, jau turėtų šiokias tokias algebros žinias, nors ir miglotai įsisavintas ar pusiau užmirštas. Šios knygos tikslas yra tas nepilnas ir netvirtas žinias patikslinti, atkurti ir įtvirtinti, bet svarbiausia - išugdyti skaitytojo palinkimą mokytis algebros ir sukelti norą savarankiškai iš mokslo knygų užpildyti savo pasiruošimo spragas." Autorius]]> 229 Yakov Perelman 0714713538 Nandakishore 4 mathematics Physics for Entertainment, Figures for Fun and this book are all favourites from a nerdy teenage.]]> 4.00 1933
author: Yakov Perelman
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1933
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/02/13
shelves: mathematics
review:
Oh, how I miss the old Soviet Union when I come across these ridiculously cheap popular science books on my shelves. Yakov Perelman's Physics for Entertainment, Figures for Fun and this book are all favourites from a nerdy teenage.
]]> 38412
"I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain."

With these words, the seventeenth-century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat threw down the gauntlet to future generations.  What came to be known as Fermat's Last Theorem looked simple; proving it, however, became the Holy Grail of mathematics, baffling its finest minds for more than 350 years.  In Fermat's Enigma--based on the author's award-winning documentary film, which aired on PBS's "Nova"--Simon Singh tells the astonishingly entertaining story of the pursuit of that grail, and the lives that were devoted to, sacrificed for, and saved by it.  Here is a mesmerizing tale of heartbreak and mastery that will forever change your feelings about mathematics.]]> 315 Simon Singh 0385493622 Nandakishore 0 mathematics, to-read 4.27 1997
author: Simon Singh
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/15
shelves: mathematics, to-read
review:

]]> 705566 2576 James Roy Newman 0486432688 Nandakishore 0 to-read, mathematics 4.19 1956
author: James Roy Newman
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/15
shelves: to-read, mathematics
review:

]]> 194769 256 Raymond M. Smullyan 0192801422 Nandakishore 0 mathematics, to-read 4.20 1985
author: Raymond M. Smullyan
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/10
shelves: mathematics, to-read
review:

]]> 391164
This is, quite simply, the best and most popular puzzle book ever published in the Soviet Union. Since its first appearance in 1956 there have been eight editions as well as translations from the original Russian into Ukrainian, Estonian, Lettish, and Lithuanian. Almost a million copies of the Russian version alone have been sold.
Part of the reason for the book's success is its marvelously varied assortment of brainteasers ranging from simple "catch" riddles to difficult problems (none, however, requiring advanced mathematics). Many of the puzzles will be new to Western readers, while some familiar problems have been clothed in new forms. Often the puzzles are presented in the form of charming stories that provide non-Russian readers with valuable insights into contemporary Russian life and customs . In addition, Martin Gardner, former editor of the Mathematical Games Department,  Scientific American , has clarified and simplified the book to make it as easy as possible for an English-reading public to understand and enjoy. He has been careful, moreover, to retain nearly all the freshness, warmth, and humor of the original.
Lavishly illustrated with over 400 clear diagrams and amusing sketches , this inexpensive edition of the first English translation will offer weeks or even months of stimulating entertainment. It belongs in the library of every puzzlist or lover of recreational mathematics.
Ìý±Õ±Õ> 320 Boris A. Kordemsky 0486270785 Nandakishore 0 mathematics, to-read 4.15 1954
author: Boris A. Kordemsky
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1954
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/10
shelves: mathematics, to-read
review:

]]> 7541766 Ìý±Õ±Õ> 232 George Gheverghese Joseph 8132101685 Nandakishore 0 4.30 2009
author: George Gheverghese Joseph
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/03/22
shelves: history, mathematics, owned-but-not-read
review:

]]> 1168809 455 George Gheverghese Joseph 0691006598 Nandakishore 0 3.98 1991
author: George Gheverghese Joseph
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/03/22
shelves: history, mathematics, owned-but-not-read
review:

]]> 415056
"A classic."—Andrew Rothery, Times Education Supplement

"Martin Gardner has turned a trick as neat as any in the book itself. He has selected a group of diversions which are not only entertaining but mathematically meaningful as well. The result is a work which is rewarding on almost every level of mathematical achievement."—Miriam Hecht, Iscripta Mathematica]]> 200 Martin Gardner 0226282546 Nandakishore 5 non-fiction, mathematics
A lazy summer afternoon: the youth section of our city library, housed in an ancient mammoth of a colonial building: the musty smell of old books: the summer vacation stretching in front of me... and the pretty girl who sat across me at the table, at whom I stole glances now and then, but never got up the courage to speak to...

Ah, the halcyon days of youth!...]]> 4.25 1959
author: Martin Gardner
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1959
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/09/22
shelves: non-fiction, mathematics
review:
This is the first book by Martin Gardner I read - and I have been a fan ever since. Just thinking of this book fills me with nostalgia.

A lazy summer afternoon: the youth section of our city library, housed in an ancient mammoth of a colonial building: the musty smell of old books: the summer vacation stretching in front of me... and the pretty girl who sat across me at the table, at whom I stole glances now and then, but never got up the courage to speak to...

Ah, the halcyon days of youth!...
]]> 8406726
Victorian clergyman and Shakespearean scholar Edwin Abbott penned this mathematical allegory about the dawn of reason seemingly in response to the puritanical environment of his era. Touching on themes of humanity''s insatiable quest for truth, authority''s tendency to squash radical ideas born from this quest, and the necessity of curiosity, Flatland is an odd and charming little book whose impact far surpasses its concise prose.]]> 130 Edwin A. Abbott 1616140208 Nandakishore 5 general-fiction, mathematics entirely subjective. I love maths, I love playing mathematical games, I love philosophising about maths. So this book is perfect for me. But if maths is not your cup of tea, you may not enjoy it as much as I did.

I first read about this book in one of Martin Gardner's "Mathematical Games" anthologies, and was enthralled by the concept. (In fact, he discusses two books: Flatland by Edwin A. Abbot and An Episode of Flatland by Charles Hinton written with the same premise. He says Hinton's book is better, and I have managed to locate an online version recently, but have not had time to read it so far.)

We live in a world of three dimensions. It is easy for us to deal with one dimension (the line), two dimensions (the plane) and three dimensions (space). But can we conceptualise a fourth dimension? It is well-nigh impossible, for our whole being is tied up on this three-dimensional paradigm.

Abbot's fictional world is two-dimensional. The characters move about on a flat landscape. They cannot imagine a third dimension. The narrator of the story, A. Square, is living the relatively comfortable life of a country gent until he is snatched up into "Spaceland" by a sphere, a three-dimensional being. He has a view of his land from a three-dimensional perspective, and Square is never the same again. He comes back to preach the concept of Space to his fellow countrymen and is promptly incarcerated in an asylum as a lunatic.

There is no story in this short novella: it is more of a mathematical exploration and social commentary. The first part uses the Flatland society to poke fun at Victorian norms, and is quite entertaining. The inhabitants of Flatland are all geometrical figures: social pedigree is conferred by the number of sides one has, the lowliest being the isoceles triangles (the soldiers) and the highest being the cirles (the priests). (The circle is a special instance of a polygon with an infinite number of sides.) The male children of a member of one class are usually born with one more side than the parent, so social climbing is possible. However, the women are all single lines: they can't aspire to be anything other than "women"! There are also irregular polygons, who are social misfits.

Abbot explains at length the geography and history of his society. The "Chromatic Revolution" where an attempt to overthrow the established order by a scheming "irregular" is scuttled by a clever circle, through an inspiring speech in parliament worthy of Mark Antony, is especially hilarious.

In the second part, the story submerges itself in the philosophy of maths. The protagonist has a vision of "Lineland", a world of a single dimension: he tries to explain Flatland to the King of that realm, but with little success. Then, our hero has a visit from a Sphere, an inhabitant of "Spaceland", and he faces the same problem in comprehending the third dimension as the king of Lineland had in comprehending the second (later, the Sphere demonstrates the same shortsight when Square moots the possibility of a fourth dimension).

Square is transported into Spaceland by Sphere, and suddenly he can see Flatland from the outside: including the inside of the houses and the intestines of the inhabitants, all at the same time! He also comprehends that the magical ability of a Spaceland denizen to move in and out of Flatland wherever he/ she wishes is nothing but a question of simple three-dimensional geometry. Square also is witness to a parliarmentary meeting where the Sphere makes a surprise appearance, to try to convince the rulers of Flatland about the existence of space, but to no avail. The preaching of space is a state crime in Flatland, with the penalty of either death or life in confinement(according to the social status of the individual)- the ultimate fate of the narrator of the story.

Yet even though he is destined to spend his remaining life in an asylum, Square is not willing to let go of his vision of Space. Once seen, he is transformed for life.

Abbot, a teacher and theologician, uses his knowledge of philosophy and mathematics not only to create a satire, but also to raise big questions about the limitations of perception in general. It is an extremely enjoyable read, and the issues it raises will stay with you even after you finish it.

Since it is available online free from Gutenberg, I suggest everyone to give it a try.]]> 4.50 1884
author: Edwin A. Abbott
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1884
rating: 5
read at: 2012/01/13
date added: 2016/01/02
shelves: general-fiction, mathematics
review:
At the outset... the 5 stars are entirely subjective. I love maths, I love playing mathematical games, I love philosophising about maths. So this book is perfect for me. But if maths is not your cup of tea, you may not enjoy it as much as I did.

I first read about this book in one of Martin Gardner's "Mathematical Games" anthologies, and was enthralled by the concept. (In fact, he discusses two books: Flatland by Edwin A. Abbot and An Episode of Flatland by Charles Hinton written with the same premise. He says Hinton's book is better, and I have managed to locate an online version recently, but have not had time to read it so far.)

We live in a world of three dimensions. It is easy for us to deal with one dimension (the line), two dimensions (the plane) and three dimensions (space). But can we conceptualise a fourth dimension? It is well-nigh impossible, for our whole being is tied up on this three-dimensional paradigm.

Abbot's fictional world is two-dimensional. The characters move about on a flat landscape. They cannot imagine a third dimension. The narrator of the story, A. Square, is living the relatively comfortable life of a country gent until he is snatched up into "Spaceland" by a sphere, a three-dimensional being. He has a view of his land from a three-dimensional perspective, and Square is never the same again. He comes back to preach the concept of Space to his fellow countrymen and is promptly incarcerated in an asylum as a lunatic.

There is no story in this short novella: it is more of a mathematical exploration and social commentary. The first part uses the Flatland society to poke fun at Victorian norms, and is quite entertaining. The inhabitants of Flatland are all geometrical figures: social pedigree is conferred by the number of sides one has, the lowliest being the isoceles triangles (the soldiers) and the highest being the cirles (the priests). (The circle is a special instance of a polygon with an infinite number of sides.) The male children of a member of one class are usually born with one more side than the parent, so social climbing is possible. However, the women are all single lines: they can't aspire to be anything other than "women"! There are also irregular polygons, who are social misfits.

Abbot explains at length the geography and history of his society. The "Chromatic Revolution" where an attempt to overthrow the established order by a scheming "irregular" is scuttled by a clever circle, through an inspiring speech in parliament worthy of Mark Antony, is especially hilarious.

In the second part, the story submerges itself in the philosophy of maths. The protagonist has a vision of "Lineland", a world of a single dimension: he tries to explain Flatland to the King of that realm, but with little success. Then, our hero has a visit from a Sphere, an inhabitant of "Spaceland", and he faces the same problem in comprehending the third dimension as the king of Lineland had in comprehending the second (later, the Sphere demonstrates the same shortsight when Square moots the possibility of a fourth dimension).

Square is transported into Spaceland by Sphere, and suddenly he can see Flatland from the outside: including the inside of the houses and the intestines of the inhabitants, all at the same time! He also comprehends that the magical ability of a Spaceland denizen to move in and out of Flatland wherever he/ she wishes is nothing but a question of simple three-dimensional geometry. Square also is witness to a parliarmentary meeting where the Sphere makes a surprise appearance, to try to convince the rulers of Flatland about the existence of space, but to no avail. The preaching of space is a state crime in Flatland, with the penalty of either death or life in confinement(according to the social status of the individual)- the ultimate fate of the narrator of the story.

Yet even though he is destined to spend his remaining life in an asylum, Square is not willing to let go of his vision of Space. Once seen, he is transformed for life.

Abbot, a teacher and theologician, uses his knowledge of philosophy and mathematics not only to create a satire, but also to raise big questions about the limitations of perception in general. It is an extremely enjoyable read, and the issues it raises will stay with you even after you finish it.

Since it is available online free from Gutenberg, I suggest everyone to give it a try.
]]> 715586 274 Martin Gardner 0394494067 Nandakishore 4 non-fiction, mathematics 4.18 1975
author: Martin Gardner
name: Nandakishore
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1975
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/09/28
shelves: non-fiction, mathematics
review:

]]>